If you want to be more persuasive with your copywriting, there is a 4-part persuasion formula I want to share with you. I learned this formula from one of the world’s greatest copywriters, Gary Bencivenga, who is a mentor, client and dear friend.
Part One: Urgent Problem
If there is no problem, there is nothing to talk about because you can’t offer a solution. Make sure it’s an urgent problem, because urgency makes people more motivated to find a solution.
For example, one offer I used to make when speaking at conferences was an 8-month mentoring program. I would start by talking about the problem of overwhelm.
I’d say, “Listen, I’ll bet you are overwhelmed with too much to do. That’s why I’m offering an eight-month mentoring program. You have access to me for eight months, one time per month. You will learn a lot more and digest a lot more than if I did this in eight days or in eight weeks, as many other marketers do. “
Part Two: Unique Promise
The key word is “unique.” My promise was unique. The program was delivered over an eight-month period. You’d get the audio transcripts and executive summaries, which have live links. I’d help you build your business.
If you came up with a website, I promoted you to others in the mentoring program. Many coaches don’t do that. Through my promotion, you could generate joint venture opportunities.
Part Three: Unquestionable Proof
The urgent problem I used when promoting my first product, a postcard marketing course, was that we are in an over-marketed society — and the only thing that would get through is a postcard.
The unique promise was: “Postcards are the fastest, easiest, most economical way to increase your sales and profits without spending an extra dime on advertising or marketing costs.”
Then I started providing unquestionable proof. I wrote, “That’s why Marketing With Postcards is the most unique and cutting edge advertising course of its kind. Want proof? Take a sneak peek at the postcard marketing secrets you’ll discover.”
Following that, I rattled off a bunch of bullet points, like “52 time-tested and winning postcard designs you can legally steal from me to make your response rates soar. See Chapter 6, page 53” and “Flood your business with more sales leads than you’ll know what to do with. My 41 sales phrases show you how. See Chapter 4, page 14.”
Other pieces of proof include testimonials from Jay Conrad Levinson, Joe Vitale, Jonathan Mizel, Mike Litman and more. I also used four case studies for unquestionable proof. I stated the client’s problem, the action I took and the result we got.
Part Four: User-Friendly Proposition
Make it easy for people to say yes to your offer. A user-friendly proposition is being one click away to the order form. It’s having an 800 number, so they can call in and order. It’s processing a credit card order in real time, so everything is done at once, and they get the product shipped to them.
Those are the 4 steps to the Bencivenga Persuasion Formula. Print it out, hang it on your wall, and look at it each day before you write a word of copy.
Urgent Problem
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Unique Promise
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Unquestionable Proof
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User-Friendly Proposition
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PERSUASION
Now that you’ve learned the 4 steps to persuasion in copywriting, tell me … how will using this formula impact your copywriting results and process? Chime in below! ~ Alex
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